Learning to Fly
by year-of-the-pineapple
Summary: An AU in which the group takes Zuko up on his offer of keeping him as their prisoner. Diverges from the show after S3 E12.
1. welcome to the machine

**This fic is going to diverge from the show at episode 12 of season 3, exploring what would have happened if the gang had taken Zuko prisoner instead of sending him away and eventually befriending him.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Zuko's forever watching the fire nation kids have fun without him._

_"Look at those meat-heads playing basketball. Don't they know that tomorrow is father's coronation?"_

_He looks at his sister and then frowns at the children in front of him. "I doubt they care." He utters, staring on blankly as the ball drops in front of his feet and bounces gently against his sandals. The kids in question fall silent from their rowdy cheering as they realise just who exactly their ball has rolled into._

_"Ahem." One of them starts. "Zu-zuko, could you please pass us the ball back?" he brazenly asks, taking a step forwards._

_Zuko reaches down to pick it up but Azula pulls him back by the shoulder._

_"How _dare_ you address him as Zuko?! You are to call us Fire Prince Zuko and Fire Princess Azula." Her eyes burn with that familial gleam. "Or… do you show disrespect to your nobility?" she asks, and as the boy shakes his head with vehemence, she knows that she's won. "Bow to your Prince." She adds, for haughty measure._

_"Azula, I don't…" Zuko hisses, his voice teeming with embarrassment as he watches the terrified boy sink to his knees._

_"S-sorry, Fire Prince Zuko. Y-you can keep our ball." He mutters, not looking into Zuko's eyes and fleeing in the opposite direction as soon as Azula gives him a satisfied nod of her head._

_She snorts. "Idiots."_

_Zuko picks up the ball and stares at it in his hands for a few seconds. "You don't want it?" he calls after the kid, who's re-joined his friends, a few of which direct angry glares towards the two royals._

_"Not anymore." another one says coldly, with a bold glare sent directly to the Prince. Zuko feels his face and his hands warm up and a second later, the ball explodes in a barely-contained display of exothermic rage and turns to ash on the floor._

_His keeps his fists balled as Azula turns to face him, a smirk on her features. "Don't worry about those cretins, Zuko. They'll be in prison soon enough, with those attitudes." She leans back on the bench and places both hands behind her top knot, relaxing. "You should learn to relax."_

_Zuko's cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment. "You shouldn't have told them to call us Prince and Princess!" he rages. "Why did you do that?"_

_She rolls her eyes. "You should be proud of your royal heritage. You'll thank me one day, Zuko."_

_He clenches his jaw, once, and then releases it. It wasn't wise to get on Azula's bad side, and besides. If it weren't for her, he probably wouldn't have anyone to sit with at all._

* * *

"Jeez. Why is fire nation food so hot?" Sokka exclaims, gulping down some more water to go with some of the food that he managed to scrounge at a local fair.

Katara and Aang share a look, a giggle escaping Aang's throat. "Sokka, I think you answered your own question, there."

"For real, are their tongues made of molten _steel_? This is ridiculous!" he continues his tirade.

"I like it!" Toph decides, taking a large bite from Sokka's place as he gawps at her, incredulous. "Much better than Earth Kingdom food. It's all so dry and mealy."

"Hey! That's mine!" Sokka grabs the plate from her and stuffs a whole lot of food in his mouth in at attempt to save it from Toph's wandering hands. "Just 'cause it's spicy, doesn't mean I'm not _hungry_."

Toph sits back on her seat and raises her hands. "Whatever." She pauses, sparing a look at Katara. "I'll go and give Zuko some food, or whatever." She stands up, but Katara frowns and places a hand in front, stopping her.

"No. I'll go."

"What?" Toph frowns.

"He's dangerous. I'll go." She says. Aang briefly considers protesting, but the sheer look on Katara's face persuades him otherwise. Katara mutters contemptuously to herself as she walks by the fire towards the food and gathers together a plate for Zuko, before turning on her heel towards the room they'd locked him up in.

She's angry, of course, because her group was now saddled with having to put up with a prisoner, and because even the mere existence of said prisoner had caused tension in their group. Aang and Toph had been firmly against keeping Zuko prisoner, but Sokka and Katara had felt it was a good idea. Or at the very least, making the best of a bad situation.

She hesitates in front of the door, placing one hand against it as if to somehow determine the threat. Wondering if he's already managed to burn off the frozen restraints that Aang and her had constructed for him.

She knocks heavily, twice.

"Hello?" she hears him call, taking that as her invitation to come in. She places the plate heavily on the floor and readies one hand for combat; using the other to punch open the door with a heavy crack and the sound of the splintering of metal.

"Zuko." She says, icily. When she realises that he's still restrained, she relaxes. He's sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed. When she enters, she sees his bad eye open a crack to peek at his visitor. "Don't even think of trying anything." She says, holding her breath a little. "I'm just here to bring you food."

He lowers his arms and uncrosses his legs, pausing to look at the offering. "Thanks." He manages to say awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Katara, I…"

"You _what_?" she whips her head round at him. "Are you going to try apologising again?" she says with enough venom to poison even a large animal like Appa.

He blinks in surprise, and then shakes his head. "It's just… I can't eat this." He tells her simply. He holds up his bound hands by way of an explanation, offering up an apologetic grimace. "Look, I'm sorry, but you need to let me out of these so I can eat."

Katara's frown dissolves away and she ponders the situation for a second. Then, she picks up the plate of food and brings it closer to Zuko, lowering herself down on the brick flooring and crossing her legs opposite him. She raises one hand, bringing forth a sphere of water around them which encloses them in together; turning it into ice with a flick of her wrist. With her other hand, she breaks the ice trap on one of Zuko's hands. "There." She says airily. "You can eat now."

He stares at her, and then at the ice cage she's created and shrugs. "You know, considering that _I _turned myself in to _you_, you're seriously untrusting." He ponders for a second, and then corrects himself. "Or is this retribution?"

"Sit down and eat." She orders, a little crabby. She watches him awkwardly devour a plate of meat with one hand, peering at him with curiosity even against her better instincts. "How can you eat that? Even _Sokka_ thought it was too spicy."

He doesn't reply but continues to eat. Katara wonders when the last time he ate was- noticing he looks skinny. She doesn't ask.

When he's about halfway done, he pauses and considers the ice dome with a flash of irritation.

"How am I going to teach the Avatar firebending when I can't even be trusted to eat without _supervision_?" he spits.

Katara flinches against his irritation, noting that his temper doesn't appear to have improved since they last came to head. "I don't know." She admits, accidentally letting out a tendril of worry that she had been keeping inside. Zuko may be a dangerous sociopath who stalked them for months on end, but he's not inept at reading facial signals, apparently, because his face softens.

"I get it, you're worried about Aang." He shrugs, his voice gentler. "If the three of you teamed up against me, you would win," he admits.

"I know." Karata grimaces. "But I can't have you hurting Aang or betraying us again. not now. We're so _close_."

"How can I prove to you-"

"Shut up!" she yells, cutting him off. "I don't want you to _prove_ anything. You don't get it!" She tells him, shooting a ray of ice which re-binds his hands as the ice sphere around them shatters to nothing. "I'm going to bed." She scowls, standing up and turning to leave; to rejoin her group of friends and push her worries about Zuko out of her mind.

He stares intently after her, and scowls ardently at the sound of the door slamming closed, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more.


	2. keep talking

**Sorry, I uploaded this like a moron the first time:**

* * *

_Sokka sits on his own in the igloo, legs crossed defiantly as he hears the 'oohs' and the 'aahs' emanating from the ice block outside. Every now and then a gush of water playfully splashes against the side of the igloo; deepening his frown. His hands are laid onto his knees in front of him, and he's moving them around in crazy shapes._

_"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Katara exclaims proudly as her mother cheers her on from the side. "Sokka! Come and look!"_

_Sokka's mouth bends downwards into a pout, but he falls to his hands and crawls out of the icy cave he's residing in to see what she's talking about it. His heart soars in surprise when he sees her, his 7 year old sister, holding a large bubble of water between both gloved hands with an epic beam on her face. "Wow, Katara," he forces a smile onto his lips. "That's amazing!"_

_"Thank you, Sokka!" Katara beams, happy for her brother's praise; but forgetting her bending and letting the water bubble plop to the ground and splash into nothing more than a puddle. She stares at it for a second, feeling a little tearful. "Oh."_

_"Don't worry, Katara. You're doing so well!" her mother says encouragingly. "I'm so proud of you." She says, and then spots Sokka pouting jealously. "I'm proud of both of my lovely children." She smiles over at Sokka, waving him to come closer to them. He hesitates, shaking his head and frowning. He doesn't come towards them but instead retreats into his ice cave once again, rubbing his hands together to warm them up._

_There, he contorts his fingers into shapes again; watching the snow in front of him intently for any sign of a movement._

_The snow doesn't move, and Sokka doesn't waterbend._

* * *

When Katara returns to the campfire, Sokka has a curious look on his face.

"Did it go okay?"

"What do you think, Sokka? Given the fact that if it didn't go ok, I'd probably have half my face burned off?"

Sokka holds his hands up in defence of himself. "Jeez, sis. Calm down. I thought _I_ was the sarcasm guy around here." He raises an eyebrow questioningly. "Is he being a jerk?"

Katara sighs pointedly. "I'm sorry, Sokka. Having him around us is playing with my nerves." She confirms, lowering the tone of her voice slightly.

"_You're_ the one that wanted to keep him prisoner…" Toph makes the point before Aang has to, cutting into their conversation rudely.

"I know, I know. I think… it's the right thing. For Aang. But… it just makes me feel so stupid, knowing that I trusted and believed him once already." she makes a troubled face, to which Sokka blinks slowly; twice.

"But… is he being a jerk?" he asks again.

"Not especially more than usual."

Sokka doesn't take that the way it was intended, and he rolls up his sleeves in rage. "That's it. Nobody's a jerk to my sister and gets away with it!" he scowls, stomping off supposedly to go and confront Zuko. Aang frowns after him.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" he calls. All he gets back is a determined mutter, so he turns to Katara. "Are you okay? He didn't say anything; hurt you?"

Katara shakes her head. "He's done enough." She says, her voice hurt and weary. "I'm going to bed, I'm tired." She tells Aang. "Goodnight Aang, goodnight Toph." She pauses. "Goodnight Appa," she calls to the water bison before she turns and walks to the place on the cliff where her sleeping bag lies. He moans back.

She realises with somewhat of a start that she can hear Sokka and Zuko talking – wondering if Zuko could hear her the whole time.

"You think you can be a jerk to my sister!" Sokka rages, flinging the door open and causing Zuko to jump a little in place; he's lying on his back and had been staring intently at the ceiling before Sokka had burst in on him unexpectedly.

"…no?" Zuko responds unsurely, trying to wrack his brains and work out whether he _had_ been a jerk to Katara a few minutes ago.

Sokka glares. "C'mon, I bet you said _somethin_' mean." He derides.

Zuko shrugs as if it couldn't possibly matter and goes back to staring at the ceiling. "Well? Aren't you going to apologise?" Sokka demands. "Challenge me to an Agni Kai? Something?"

"No." Zuko comes back coldly. "I didn't say anything mean! She came in here and started yelling at me."

Sokka closes his eyes and turns away defiantly, before one of them cracks open to peer at Zuko closely. "Well. I'm sure you said _something_." He clears his throat. "Or, I dunno. Sent her one of your mean looks, or something," he points to his eyes and then hastily regrets the move. "I… I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter." He waves away the concern, though not without placing a thoughtful hand on his bad eye. "Your sister just hates me."

"We all hate you." Sokka explains, factually. "Katara just… hates you especially."

Zuko considers this, and then nods. "I think that's fair. I'd hate me too, if our positions were switched."

Sokka makes a face. "And then you go and do that whole… _broody_ thing, which makes everyone feel sorry for you." He grimaces. "So we feel bad about hating you, which is annoying, and so…" he makes a circle with his finger, "-the cycle continues."

Zuko frowns. "What broody thing? I don't brood." He scowls, kicking the floor. "And I'm not trying to make anyone feel sorry for me." He shakes his head. "I've made mistakes in the past, and I've come clean. I really want to be a better person."

Sokka's face falls neutral and he shrugs. "It's going to be hard to convince folks."

Zuko pauses. "You want to know something?"

"What?"

"Don't tell Katara."

"Fine." Sokka promises vaguely, intrigued by the hint of possible gossip.

"I can get out of these restraints easily." Zuko whispers conspiratorially. "I just don't want anyone to think I'm trying to escape."

Sokka gapes. "What? How?"

Zuko coughs and then breathes fire against the brick wall out of his mouth. "I can breathe fire out of my mouth and melt them." He says casually.

"But you didn't." Sokka repeats, nonplussed.

"But I didn't." Zuko confirms.

"Do it, then."

Zuko shakes his head. "No. Can you imagine how annoyed Katara would be? I'm her prisoner, and it would damage her pride."

Sokka laughs. "We're not like you. We don't care about our pride." He nudges his head forward. "Do it, get rid of your restraints. Anyway, if you really feel strongly about it then we can get Aang to come and make more."

Zuko scowls. "Fine." He spits, and as he exhales, a small tendril of flame extends from his mouth. He puts his hands up to the restraints and Sokka watches the shackles drip away until the ice is practically nothing. Zuko breaks what's left of it with a clench of his fists. "Ta-da." He says, sarcastically.

Sokka notes his appreciation, for the move and for the sarcasm. "Fair enough. Should I be worried for my life?" he asks, raises an inquisitive brow.

Zuko makes a muffled noise of anger and flames now shoot from his hands as Sokka flinches away. "_NO_!" he yells. "I'm here because I want to help you!" he raises his voice and then immediately lowers it when he realises that everyone in camp can probably hear him. "Goddamn it," he mutters trying to keep his cool.

Sokka nods. "Ok. I believe you." he raises his hands and takes a step backwards.

Zuko closes his eyes as if he's tired and sits down on his concrete slab of a bed. He doesn't say another word, but in a hot second the Avatar bursts in; hands up and ready to fight. He narrows his eyes as he assesses the situation. "Don't move, Zuko!"

Zuko doesn't move a muscle, except to twitch in annoyance. "I'm not." He snarls.

"Why are you out of your restraints?"

"Turns out, he could do it the whole time! Pretty cool, huh?"

"I don't actually want to hurt any of you, anymore."

Aang frowns and then lowers his arms to his sides, assessing the threat level as zero. "I'd get Toph in here to verify the truth of that… but I think I believe you already." He looks up as Zuko opens his eyes and sits up.

"That's what I've been trying to tell everyone!" he exclaims, irritated that he's coming across like a twelve-year-old. Meanwhile, the actual twelve-year-old in the room breaks out in a smile and sits down next to Zuko. The Fire Prince flinches away as if in surprise that Aang would willingly get so close to him. "What are you doing?"

"Can we train?" Aang says excitedly. "Can you teach me fire-bending?"

Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose. "Tomorrow. I'm too tired to fire-bend now."

Aang and Sokka share a sceptical look, and Aang's face falls in disappointment. "B-but… you were serious about that, right?"

Sokka senses that Zuko's mood is probably going to get a whole lot worse if Aang keeps bothering him, so he grabs Aang by the shoulders and directs him towards the door. "Sorry for bothering you, Zuzu." He makes a face as he hears Zuko rage behind them.

"Don't CALL ME THAT!" he yells, as Sokka feels a wave of hot air emanate from behind him. There's a pause, and Aang turns back around. "Urgh." Zuko groans. "Sorry."

"I need to… lock your hands back up." Aang says carefully, gently. "Do you mind?"

"No. Go ahead." He closes his eyes to look away, and then shoves his wrists out in front of him for Aang to shackle. Aang considers putting earth shackles on him, but thinks better of it – opting for the ice ones again. Once it's done, Aang and Sokka go to leave.

"Aang." Zuko calls. "5:30 tomorrow. We train."

Sokka barks a laugh as Aang groans at the concept. "Hah! Have fun waking up at the crack of dawn, Aang!"

"Sokka, you should come too. I can help you with your sword-fighting technique."

Sokka's smile bends downwards in displeasure at this invitation.


	3. us and them

_"Do me next!" Toph giggles, taking a few steps from Aang and opening her mouth in anticipation. "Go!" she says, although the word comes out more like 'haaagh' because of her open mouth._

_Aang laughs as he bends a small portion of juice out of her cup and aims it at her gaping mouth. He aims perfectly; the drop of juice lands squarely on her tongue and she gulps it with a satisfied smirk._

_On the sidelines, Sokka pouts. "You did it fine with her," He references his juice-covered face and hair with a tinge of disappointment._

_"You kept moving!" Aang laughs. "Try and stay still."_

_"Fine, fine," Sokka nods and swaps places with Toph. He opens his mouth one last time and Aang draws the juice from the cup with his lithe fingers; steadying his stance and preparing himself to shoot it into Sokka's mouth, when Katara's voice interrupts them:_

_"You're messing around? Again?" she's asking. Aang freezes and messes up the throw; spilling juice all down his tunic. He sighs down at himself, and then looks up at Katara._

_Her eyes cloud with annoyance._

_"We were just taking a break…."_

_"If you're going to learn earth-bending, you're going to need to take it more seriously!" she scolds the lot of them. "Toph, what happened to the lesson?"_

_"Er…" she swallows. "It got away from us, admittedly."_

_"If you want to be Aang's teacher, you have to be more tough with him. Otherwise he won't learn!" she expresses her worries._

_"They can mess around sometimes, can't they?" Sokka defends them, a small frown adorning his features. "Aang's got ages to learn earthbending."_

_Katara sighs. "All you do is mess around. Have you even had an earthbending lesson today?"_

_Toph shifts on her feet and Aang hangs his head in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Katara. I'll take it more seriously," he balls his fists. "I promise you, I'm gonna try really hard. I'm never going to mess around again!" he swears._

_Toph coughs drily, indicating that what he's just said is not true, but holds her tongue on this occasion._

_Katara's anxious expression cracks on the surface, and allows herself a smile. "Well, having fun is okay sometimes," she admits, letting go. "Come on, guys. Aang, let's do them both at the same time. See who can get the best shots!"_

* * *

"Is it a prerequisite for anyone born in the fire nation to be a complete and utter sociopath?!" Sokka asks through yet another stifled yawn. "5:30 shouldn't even exist."

Zuko blinks at him. "I used to have to wake up this early every day for training."

"But we're just common folk, we don't need to learn the same way as the Fire Prince-"

"It doesn't matter! You need to _learn_," Zuko insists as he raises his fists and instructs Aang once again. He lifts both arms, inhales deeply, and then slams a flaming fist forward as the other hand lands on the crease of his elbow. "…if you want to defeat my father."

Aang copies his movements verbatim, but no burst of flame appears at his fist. "Dammit!" he swears somewhat uncharacteristically.

"You'll get it! It's kind of hard at first," Zuko's voice softens and Sokka catches a glimpse of his rare nicer side. "It took me years to master."

"This is the Avatar you're speaking to," Sokka points out.

Aang makes a face. "I don't know…"

"You have to channel your anger. Firebending about channelling your passion. But in a controlled way," he adds. "That said. My bending feels… weaker than ever," He comments, looking down at his calloused hands in surprise. He clenches his fists underneath his own glare.

"Uh… is it because you're calmer, now?" Aang asks, a little tentatively.

Zuko's face settles into a disappointed frown. "I don't know," he admits. "It could be… it could be that I've changed sides," he suggests. Aang and Sokka shoot each other equally unconvinced looks. "All I know is, I can't seem to channel the same energy as before," he muses. He thinks of Mai, the fire nation back home, and clenches his fists and makes a muffled noise of frustration.

"Chill out, Zuko," Sokka interjects, smoothing his hands in a calming motion.

"NO!" Zuko yells out suddenly. "I can't believe I left behind _everything_, and it's all a waste!" his face crumbles as he plonks down dejectedly onto the stone floor.

Sokka makes a face, and Aang creeps up to Zuko. He sits down; levelling himself with the fire prince. "Zuko, it's not a waste. I'm grateful that you offered to teach me," he smiles with an air of surety. "And… even if your bending is weaker, having on our side-"

"-means that at least you aren't chasing us all the time!" Sokka interjects heartily, proud of himself. Aang grimaces and Zuko's scowl cuts even deeper. "Oh. Was that… not the right thing to say?"

The three of them sit in stony, miserable silence for a few seconds, before a rustle in the bushes beside them pulls them out of their reverie.

"Who's there?" Sokka stands, reaching for his boomerang.

"Relax, dum-dum. It's just me," Toph's precocious voice greets them, jumping out from behind the foliage. She waves her hand around. "I wanted to observe a firebending lesson. Thought I might be able to use it to my advantage against the fire kingdom, should it come to it," she sniffs. "Although this is a hell of a lot more boring than I expected."

"Eurgh," Zuko makes a groan of embarrassment. "Look, it's usually better, ok? What am I saying. You _know_ that!"

Toph raises a hand. "I don't."

"Well, I'm sorry," Zuko apologises, raising his hands. Aang shoots him a look of sympathy. "Look, maybe your sister is right," he motions to Sokka. "I shouldn't be here, I can't help you."

Toph rolls her eyes. "Calm down, Sparky. Hey, I bet you could try going to the original source of your nations power?" she suggests. "You and Aang could go on a spirit mission together! Wouldn't that be so _cute_?"

"What's the original source of firebending?" Sokka wonders.

"The, uh. The dragons," Zuko crosses his arms across his chest. "But I don't think that will work out, seeing as they're all dead."

Aang flinches. "Really? All dead?"

"Yep."

"Jeez, fire nation, please _be more_ depressing," Sokka rolls his eyes.

"I can't believe it… I saw the dragons, once, when I was younger," Aang muses. "Isn't there some place else we could go? A group of firebending masters, or something?"

Zuko mulls this over, with a look of stony determination shadowing his features. "I actually know of a place; the temple of the sun warriors. If we travel there, we could poke around their temples. We might find a scroll or something which will help."

Sokka makes a loud 'whoop' and throws his hands up. "Road trip!" he grins. "Come on guys, it'll be fun!" he says, but receives an apologetic look from Aang.

"It's actually probably best if you stay here, with Katara and Toph." Aang looks at Zuko for confirmation, who nods in agreement. "This is… a firebending thing."

"Urgh," Toph shakes her head with a nod towards Sokka. "You _guys_ and your exclusionary adventures."

* * *

"There you have it. The dancing dragon," Aang pronounces proudly, receiving a distinct snigger from the group, minus Katara. "What?!"

"It's a sacred firebending technique!" Zuko snaps in annoyance, getting the distinct feeling that he's being made fun of. "What are you laughing at?"

"I was under the impression that firebending was gonna be more… manly," Toph yawns. "Sparky, man. I'm disappointed in you, and your culture."

"Yeah, that's just perfect, if you and Fire Lord Ozai were planning to have a _dance battle_," Sokka teases. "I'm almost glad that you didn't let us join you."

Zuko scowls but when Aang smiles and places a hand on his arm, it begins to fade away. "They're just teasing you, Zuko. It's how we show affection." Katara's face drops, as if to indicate her degree of disagreement with this statement. Aang notices and blinks over at her. "Er, Katara? Are you okay?"

"Fine," she bristles. "As it seems everyone _else_ is okay with needlessly putting themselves in danger," she says pointedly, avoiding Zuko's eyes.

"We're just having fun," Sokka cuts in.

"Oh sure. Lots of fun, cool. It's not like we're up against anything _serious_, just the future of the world as we know it," she glowers. "Have heaps of fun getting _betrayed by Zuko._" Katara pronounces his name like it's verbal poison and then glares; turning on her heel and stomping away. Before she leaves, she turns back to face the group. "I want _him_ locked back up."

The remaining members of the group stand silent; stunned. None more so than Zuko, who clenches his fists and growls lowly.

"Er… Sparky?" Toph asks gently.

"You heard her."


	4. back to the wall

_"You know, I had such a crush on you when we were kids," Mai comments, sipping at her strawberry smoothie and hooking her spare arm around Zuko's neck. "Still do."_

_Zuko leans into her, smells her fire-nation cinnamon perfume. Realises how much he's missed the hot spices of this land; his home. "Yeah, I know," comes his reply. He's awkward. He's always been awkward around girls. Some things never change._

_Mai doesn't seem to care. "Did you miss being home?" she asks, sidling into him._

_He notices how warm she feels and tries to relax into it. "Yeah," he replies, distractedly. "I missed the food. Earth kingdom food sucks."_

_"I had some pretty OK chilli over in Ba Sing Se," Mai shrugs. "What about before that?"_

_"We mostly just ate fish," he says dispassionately, staring down at his hands. "I'm not good at catching fish."_

_Mai lets out a dry laugh. "Well, I can't imagine you have the patience," she teases him. "What did you miss the most about being home?"_

_A smile forms on his lips and he turns her around; places his hands on her waist and draws her towards him. "I think you know the answer to that."_

_"Oh, please," she rolls her eyes fondly. "We hardly spoke."_

_Zuko shrugs. "Well, I missed seeing you around, anyway. I liked you back then, too. Azula used to tease me about it. She teased me about everything."_

_"Well, look how it worked out," Mai grins. "Maybe that girl has a future in matchmaking after all." She shrugs, sipping the steaming cup of tea on the bedside cabinet next to them. "Were you always this sullen with your uncle?"_

_Zuko pauses to think about this. "Yes."_

_"Huh. Here I thought it was just me," Mai frowns. "Poor Iroh-"_

_"Don't talk about my uncle. He's a traitor." Zuko cuts her off, his tone suddenly sharp and aggressive. "Just… don't mention him."_

_Mai falls silent, and Zuko highly suspects that she's suppressing an eye-roll._

_He can't help it, thinking of Iroh makes him too sad. And when Zuko's sad, he acts angry. And Mai's the last person that he wants to get angry at, not when she's the only good thing in his life right now. "Sorry, Mai."_

_"It doesn't matter," she utters, before a small smile forms on her lips. "Hey. Can you get those servants to leave?"_

_"Uh, sure." Zuko looks over at them, standing by the door. "Give us privacy, please."_

_They march out of the room obediently, and Zuko glances over at his girlfriend. "Why did you-"_

_She pushes him back on the bed with a playful smile. "I think you know the answer to that."_

* * *

Zuko spends his days meditating in his room. Sometimes he thinks about his destiny, sometimes he thinks about the Fire Nation. A _lot_ of the time he thinks about Mai, although he's sure that meditation is supposed to be about purifying your thoughts, not the opposite.

He tries to keep thoughts of his dear Uncle out of his mind, for the most part. It just… depressed him.

Even more so than usual.

Sometimes his ears prick up and he tries to hear what's going on in the rest of the group; around the campfire where he's not allowed unless Katara's gone to bed early.

He can hear them, now, laughing and joking about something. Part of him knows that he deserves this; deserves this isolation and rejection – but the part of him who still, apparently, an insecure sixteen-year-old boy, remains irrationally upset.

At _Katara_, of all people. It's _her_ resistance that keeps him locked in here; it's her distrust of all things fire-nation, and especially Zuko.

_Should I regret the way I acted months ago? Katara would probably say yes. Uncle would say that regret is a wasteful emotion…_

He closes his eyes and tries to clear his mind, something which has never come easy to him.

_Your Uncle wants nothing to do with you._

_Your nation wants nothing to do with you._

_Katara wants nothing to do with you, that's for damn certain._

_Even the Avatar…_

Zuko wonders when his internal monologue became so eerily similar to his sister's voice, and shudders with the very notion that he might be becoming like her. Wonders when he'll next see her; wonders if she'll kill him.

Or if he'll be forced to kill her first.

There's a knock at the door and Zuko has to scrape whatever peace of mind he can find together in time to say- "h-hello?"

"Just me," Sokka's hissing voice comes back to him. "Ya decent?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Zuko fails to keep the biting sarcasm out of his tone. "Sorry, sorry. Yeah, come in."

Sokka opens the door just a smidge and tiptoes in, shutting it carefully behind him. Only, in trying to tiptoe so carefully, he actually ends up losing his balance and slamming the door shut by mistake. "Woops!" he stares conspiratorially. "How's it going?" his voice is a loud and raspy parody of what anyone else might consider a whisper, but Zuko isn't going to play along.

"Fine," he replies, in his normal speaking tone.

"Ssh!" Sokka puts a hand over Zuko's lips causing him to flinch away dramatically. "Be quiet! Katara doesn't know I'm here!"

"Your whisper is louder than my speaking voice."

Sokka frowns and folds his arms in front of his chest, defensively. "I can whisper just fine, thank you," he asserts, feeling affronted. "And at least I don't have a _lisp_-"

"What do you want." Zuko cuts him off, his voice toneless and miserable.

"Y'know, you don't have to be so curt-"

"Spit it out."

"Fine," Sokka sighs, making his butt welcome on Zuko's bed without even asking. Zuko stares him down. The urge to say 'do you know who I am?!' is unbearably strong, but he holds his tongue. He doesn't think it would go over well. "I, uh. I wanted to pick your brains about some fire-nation stuff. Just… standard things, really. I'm really curious."

Zuko blinks, surprised. "Oh, uh… okay?" he agrees, nodding his head down. "I'll try. What did you want to know about?"

"Well, the prisons, actually. Where do they, uh, keep the war prisoners?" Sokka asks, trying and failing to practice the art of sublety. Zuko has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "From the other nations, I mean."

"Your father," Zuko says shortly. "You want to know where he is."

Sokka rubs his neck, feeling a little awkward. "Well… yes, to be honest. It would give me peace of mind, just knowing where my old man is being holed up." Sokka fidgets with his fingers and doesn't meet Zuko's eyes for a few seconds.

"Boiling rock, probably," he muses. "It's this old prison on an island; separated from the mainland by a lake of boiling water. Probably one of the most secure fire-nation prisons…" he trails off, his bull-shit sensor starting to kick in. "Why?"

"Like I said! Just peace of mind. I can imagine him there, if I know," Sokka pauses. "So, uh. Boiling water? Where's it located?"

Zuko narrows his eyes, wondering if Sokka could potentially be a contender for being even worse at lying than he himself is. "We passed it on the way over here. I didn't say anything,"

Sokka appears to be in deep thought for a minute or two, and then he nods with a sage expression. "Well. Thanks. That does make me feel much better," he concludes, and turns around to leave the room. Zuko watches him for just a second, and then a sigh escapes his lips.

"I can help you," he mutters.

"What_ever_ do you mean?" Sokka feigns ignorance with an over-theatrical show of confusion, but Zuko cuts straight through it.

"You'll stand more of a chance if I'm there. I'm fire nation, I know them. I know the prisons."

"Y-you've been to boiling rock…?"

"Well, no. Not that one. But I have been to fire nation prisons before. When, uh," he clears his throat awkwardly. "When I was a prince."

Sokka watches him with a little doubt for a second, but then his façade breaks, and he shrugs. "I want to rescue him. I'm going to take Appa and break him out – it's my fault he's in there in the first place; I need to do this to regain my honor."

Zuko draws a sharp inhale and he regards Sokka with an interested glare. He hadn't realised that the two of them were so similar, before. He wonders if maybe Sokka had been in the fire nation, they might have even been friends.

And then Zuko remembers that he didn't have friends, not really.

"We'll take my war balloon. It'll be less conspicuous and besides, there won't be anywhere to keep Appa where he won't be found," Zuko nods. "We'll head off tonight," he scratches his head. "I doubt your sister is going to be cool with this."

"That's Katara, she's just… she worries," Sokka tries to explain. "We'll try to be back before the morning," Sokka nods, and turns to leave the room. Before he does, he glances back and shoots Zuko a look. "And, uh, Zuko. If you turn on me and rat me out… well, _don't_."

Zuko doesn't know whether to be touched that Sokka's choosing to trust him or angry that Sokka still thinks that that's a possibility.

He hitches his ankles back up to his knees in a lotus sitting position and doesn't say another word on the subject.

* * *

When he'd traveled with his Uncle around the world, Zuko had had to deal with many obstacles. A grouchy, untrusting team of men; a constantly distracted uncle, his own mental decline as well as the thousands of challenges they faced actually trying to _capture_ the Avatar.

One of the things he never had to deal with was making small-talk. It just didn't happen to him. People in the fire-nation were always bustling around and everything in the palace was always too high-stakes and serious for chatter. On his ship he'd had bigger fish to fry.

Now he's faced with the real possibility of a two-hour balloon ride with a relative stranger; and absolutely nothing to talk about.

And that scares him more than anything, to be honest.

"Pretty stars," Sokka comments, his eyes trailing off in pursuit of one of the bright beacons in the sky. He coughs into his hand.

"Yeah… sparkly," Zuko stares up for a second, before inwardly cringing.

_Sparkly? What the hell are you talking about?_

He busies himself creating more fire to keep the balloon in the air and curses himself. He decides to ignore the pointed look that Sokka sends his way and wonders if his blush is being adequately concealed by the scar on the right side of his face.

"My, uh. My friend actually designed these balloons, y'know?" Sokka asks, admiring the impressive handiwork from the mechanist, allowing himself a little brag.

"Really? No kidding."

"Yep. A balloon…" he pauses, stroking his chin where a beard would be, if he had one. "But for war."

Zuko shrugs and adds a few strokes of fire to the burning heap. He allows the thought to create turmoil in his blood; fuel his firebending. "If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war."

"Must run in the family!" Sokka spots the opportunity for a joke and grabs it with both hands. The immediate look on Zuko's face tells him that it was probably a mistake.

"Hey! Not _everyone_ in my family is like that," Zuko snaps, a small frown tickling his features.

"I know, I know. You've _changed_-"

"I meant my Uncle," Zuko reminisces, his mind filling with memories of Iroh once again. "He was more of a father to me… and I really let him down," Zuko finds that he's speaking to himself, not to Sokka.

Sokka responds anyway, his stern expression breaking into something more empathic. "I think your uncle would be proud of you," he hesitates. Zuko had been known to blow up over smaller things, so he's staying careful. "Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard," he stares down gloomily at the cushion of darkness beneath them.

Zuko scoffs, staring hard into the flames he created by his own hand. "It wasn't that hard."

"Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?" Sokka asks, getting the sense that he's probing too deep, but unable to hide his curiosity.

"Well, I did have a girlfriend – Mai." Zuko sighs. Sokka raises an eyebrow, a little surprised that Zuko's actually humouring him. He's oddly uncomfortable at the idea of Zuko having any interest in girls whatsoever – for so long now, Zuko's been the enemy. And now he's a human?

There's a short silence, during which Sokka's brain makes the connection between the name Zuko's given him and a vague memory of someone else. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" he asks, the pairing suddenly making a lot more sense in his head.

"Yeah," Zuko smiles distantly; nostalgic. His expression quickly steels, and his eyes dart away. "Everyone in the fire nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't… drag her into it."

Sokka hears how Zuko's voice becomes bitter; melancholy. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon," he recounts; blurting out the words before he really has a chance to think about them.

To his surprise, Zuko doesn't laugh but instead glances thoughtfully up at the bright falcate obstacle in the sky. "That's rough, buddy," he offers by way of sympathy.

Sokka shrugs, blushing a little at the thought of Yue. _So, he and Zuko really did have more in common than just the sword-fighting._ Despite the awkward platitude, the two of them settle into a more comfortable stance. "Yeah, well. That's the kind of crazy crap that we gotta put up with, here on Team Avatar," he says sardonically. "My second girlfriend was a Kyoshi warrior. She was caught up in the war… I haven't seen her since." Sokka folds his arms across his chest.

"Jeez. That's unlucky," Zuko blinks downwards. "I didn't realise there was so much time for romance on Team Avatar."

Sokka barks a laugh. "It's been known to happen. Of course there was Katara and Jet, and then of course there's Aang-"

"Katara dated… _Jet?_" Zuko ponders this. "That arrogant kid who always chews hay?"

Sokka snorts. "The very same. Although I'm not sure if she would want me telling _you_ that-"

"Whatever. It just seems… they seem mismatched," Zuko comments drily. "Well, what do I know about love," he adds, with an angry twinge in his voice. "The one girlfriend I've ever had probably hates me."

Sokka stares at his balloon companion with some pity. "When this is all over, she might-"

"It doesn't matter how it ends. I don't deserve her. She's so beautiful, and I'm so…" he trails off, trying to conjure the right words, but taking a little while. "Angry," he concludes.

"I can't really dispute that," Sokka shrugs. "Have you tried me-"

Zuko cuts him off with a growl. "I _meditate_ every day. It doesn't help."

"I was going to say _meat_, not meditation. Have you tried a diet of only meat?" Sokka finishes proudly. "It's done wonders for my mental well-being. If I feel sad about Yue? I just have a delicious hippo-monkey steak! Katara being a whiny so-and-so? Slice myself up some pig-chicken bacon! And if I'm having an oncoming feeling of despair about our complete and utter hopelessness in the upcoming war- I just-"

"Tuck into some fried fire-ferret?" Zuko guesses.

"Well, don't mind if I do," Sokka closes his eyes and licks his lips. "Although, I'd prefer a turtle seal lasagne." Zuko can't help it; a low chuckle escapes him. Sokka gapes at him and pokes a finger in his direction. "You laughed!" he admonishes. "I win."

Zuko's toes curl up in embarrassment under his boots, and he looks away; disguising his expression from the world.

* * *

In only an hour, both boys are yawning and Sokka's eyes keep closing. Zuko watches him a little warily and shakes his own head to wake himself up; his limp black hair falling into his eyes after he does. He realises that it's been a few days since he's been able to take a bath, and he's pretty grimy.

With another attempt to suppress a yawn, he's surprised to see a light in the darkness and he stares after it. Grabbing the binoculars to get a better look, he looks through and his eyes widen. "Sokka. It's over there; we're here."

Sokka blinks himself awake from sleep and stands up, taking a look over Zuko's shoulder. The two boys share a look.

"Let's do this."


	5. echoes

_Zuko stares at Mai through half-hidden eyes; peeking through the folds of darkest brown hair which had grown through in the last few months. She stands on her tiptoes, removes her outer robe and hangs it up on the highest nail; before falling back down onto her heels and shooting Zuko a death glare._

_"What?"_

_"Nothing!" Zuko scowls, folding his arms and pointedly looking away. "I didn't say anything."_

_"Quit staring, or I'll give you something to stare at." There's a brief and tangible silence between the two of them as Mai approaches the bed with a little caution. "Got that?"_

_Zuko pretends not to watch her from his periphery as she sits down on the side of the bed. "That depends. What will you give me to stare at?" he asks, partly out of genuine curiosity. "Because if it's good, then…"_

_Mai scoffs and slaps him lightly on the arm. "Stop it," she hisses, but she's not scowling quite as much as usual. "Be serious."_

_Zuko's eyesight shifts back over to the girl on his bed and he sighs. "You looked pretty, today. On the beach," he tells her, his eyes darting all around. He's nervous, obviously. Mai's eyebrow twitches upward, but she smiles back at her boyfriend._

_"Thanks."_

_"You're welcome," he wrings his hands and leans backward; his shoulder blades pressing against the headboard of her four-poster bed._

_"Why are you so twitchy today?" Mai asks, shuffling a little closer to him. "Is it because we're all alone and my parents aren't in?" she teases, just a hint of a smile being dragged up from the side of her mouth._

_"No!" he snaps back, defensive. "It's not!"_

_"Relax." She fiddles with the bedsheets. "We don't have to do-"_

_"Stop it!" Zuko crosses his arms again, a blush spreading across one side of his face. "Stop talking about it."_

_"Why does that bother you?" Mai wonders, trying to conceal the hurt in her voice. "I didn't realise that the thought was so off-putting for you," she says curtly, her voice turning a little sour._

_"It's not, I just…" Zuko struggles, seemingly annoyed. "I want to, but I…"_

_"Then what?" she persists, noting the scowl deepen on Zuko's features. "You haven't done it before?" she seems surprised, when he nods; a little abashed. "Well, neither have I. We're only seventeen. It's understandable. What, did you think I was going around being easy like Ty Lee?" she tosses the name out with a frown. "Please."_

_Zuko visibly tries to relax himself and sits up a little. "I was banished when I was thirteen. I spent three years on a boat and one year holed in Ba Sing Se with my uncle. I don't… I'm not good at-"_

_"Have you done anything at all?" Mai asks, sceptical- but if she's embarrassed, she hides it well._

_"I, uh. I only ever kissed one other girl. In the Earth Kingdom, her name was Jin." Zuko remembers, and then wishes that he hadn't. It felt… odd, somehow. Mentioning Jin's name to Mai. "That's it."_

_Mai's brows shoot up. "God," she says under her breath. "You weren't kidding."_

_This sets Zuko off again and his nose wrinkles up in anger. "Fine. Be like that," he yells, throwing his hands up in the air. "Why don't you just go and find yourself someone who-"_

_She cuts him off with a well-timed kiss on the lips; her preferred method of Zuko-damage-control. He resists at first, like a brick wall; but melts into her in no time. Easy, she thinks; feeling his hands land gently onto his back. When they part, she smiles at him. "We'll take it slow."_

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Zuko hears Katara screech from his prisoner's room in the air temple.

So, Sokka told Katara, huh.

"He could have KILLED you?! Ever think of that? He could have teamed up with the fire nation at boiling rock and you'd be a prisoner now!" Katara continues, disappointment rife in her voice. I can't do this without you!"

Sokka lowers his. "Listen, sis, I know, I know. But… he was an outcast, there. He left his friends, his family and his title behind to come and help us – hell, they even arrested him!" Sokka shakes his head. "I trust him."

"I don't." Katara scowls. "And that's not going to change," she says with an air of finality on the subject, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sokka blinks twice, taken aback by his sister's explosive anger. It wasn't in their blood to get so angry, as descendents of the water tribe. "Do you think maybe you're overreacting, Katara? I mean, why don't we let him start afresh? He could really prove himself, don't you think?"

Katara shakes her head, wordless. Without anything further to say on the matter, she swiftly turns on her heel and leaves the room.

Sokka turns to Zuko and makes a face of apology. "Look. I gotta do this, I'm sorry dude," he says with what sounds like genuine regret, before pulling a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and approaching Zuko with them.

If Zuko had been drinking something, it would have been the perfect time for a spit-take. "What the hell are you doing with those?!" he splutters, eyeing up the handcuffs more closely.

"I stole them from boiling rock! Aren't they neat?"

Zuko frowns. "You stole those just to use on me when we got back?" he asks, a little disheartened. Sokka was annoying, sure, but he had felt that they had really bonded.

"Well," Sokka seems a little sheepish and he glances in the general direction of where Suki was now staying. "Other things too," he waggles his eyebrows and Zuko's face turns a furious and unprecedented shade of red. He backs away from Sokka, panic in his eyes. "What was the other reason!?" he asks, mortified, not sure he wants to know.

Sokka glances down at the cuffs and sighs. "Look, Zuko. I know you're older than me by a year, but there's something I have to explain to you about the birds and the bees-"

"Get away!" he yells, backing into a corner. "HELP!" he cries out, concerned for his own wellbeing.

"Don't struggle," Sokka says, inching closer to his target. "It'll only make it worse for you."

"Jesus, do you even realise how creepy you sound?" an unfamiliar voice comes from the doorway. Both men gasp and turn to look.

It's Toph, leaning on one of the doorframes and picking at her nails. "Couldn't help but overhear," she says, drily. "It comes with the territory of being blind, you see. I have to hear all of the stupid conversations you guys have when I'm not around," she roasts them with a little giggle. She briefly assesses the situation with her feet, and then groans. "Sokka – you do realise that Zuko can melt away metal, right?" she points out.

Sokka turns to look at Zuko, a betrayed and angry expression on his face – and Zuko just shrugs, as if to say – well, what did you expect?

Toph continues her beratement. "And we all know that Zuko can melt away Katara's ice restraints. Even if Katara is choosing to be… blissfully ignorant of that fact, right now," she pauses to roll her eyes intentionally.

Zuko and Sokka share a glance. "So, uh, what's your point?" Sokka asks.

"Have either of you considered that I actually want to be here, and that you don't need to imprison me?" Zuko tries, his voice terse, but both of them ignore him totally.

Toph gets to her point, gracefully as ever, with a superior smirk on her face. "This is where I come in. Stone can't be melted."

Sokka's eyes adopt an expression of understanding and he stuffs the handcuffs back into his pockets with a cough. "Ahem," he looks at Zuko, conspiratorially as if the two now share a sacred secret. "You can just forget that you saw those."

Zuko shudders heavily. "I wish I could."

He grumbles but doesn't outwardly struggle against Toph when she creates a stone seal for his hands and clamps it around his wrists. As she's bending, Zuko can't help but notice that she seems a little hesitant.

"I'm sorry, Zuko," she admits. "If it were up to me, I probably wouldn't lock you up." There's a tone of regret, there. Not for the first time, Zuko's forced to confront the fact that Toph is far more mature than her years.

"But it's not up to you, is it?" he narrows his eyes, sounding defeated.

"'Fraid not," she replies curtly.

"So how do I get Katara to trust me? How can I get her to believe that I'm not going to hurt any of you, or run away? I came here willingly – I even sacrificed-" he begins to get frustrated, feeling the dampening effect of the stone on his warm hands. She cuts him off.

"I just said it's not up to me. Save your arguments for her," she advises, shrugging as she steps back to admire her handiwork and touches two fingers to her forehead in a mocking salute motion. "Catch ya later, Zukes," she cavalierly employs a fun nickname which she just made up before sauntering out of the room.

"I would, if she would ever listen to me!" he's left yelling after her. His words reverberate around him, bouncing off the walls in the giant stone cavern of the Western Air Temple. They mock him; reminding unpleasantly him of his former self, complete with the feelings of regret and failure that followed him around.

He slumps down on his makeshift bed, which is nothing but a stone slab, and chastises himself for shouting at her.

Between Azula, Mai, Katara, and now apparently Toph... it would seem that women, in general, had a serious way of getting under his skin.

* * *

**The format of this is basically a snippet from the past, and then the current storyline. They won't always be related, just used for slow character growth**


End file.
